Switzerland’s Repair Cafés, part of a global movement started in the Netherlands, are turning the old saying: one person’s junk is another’s treasure, into: your junk is your treasure. On October 27th, about 1,500 items – everything from stuffed bears and toy tractors to vacuum cleaners and digital cameras – were saved from Swiss junk piles, […]
Why men in Switzerland die before women
It’s Movember, the season of unlikely moustaches, grown to highlight men’s health. Causes of disease and death are not always clear, however, gender differences in lifestyle and disease offer some clues to lower male life expectancy. Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) puts male life expectancy at 81.5 years, 3.8 years behind women, who live 85.2 […]
Call to ban outdoor smoking in one Swiss canton
A politician in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino wants an end to smoking outside in public spaces. In addition, she would like smoke-free areas in outdoor parts of restaurants. Nadia Ghisolfi, a member of the Christian Democratic People’s Party of Switzerland (PDC/CVP) in Ticino, has called for several smoking bans and a change to smoking […]
Nearly two thirds of Swiss annoyed by their neighbours
64% of those surveyed in a recently published study, say they are bothered by their neighbours. Some are driven to take legal action while others pack up and leave. Noise was the most widespread complaint. 28% complained of this. Loud conversations, noisy children, banging, loud music and parties were the most frequent noise problems. Other […]
New fines for dog owners, spitters and sloppy rubbish sorters in Lausanne
From 1 November 2017, Lausanne will slap big fines on those littering or soiling its public spaces. Spitting in or near a public a public space will come with a CHF 100 fine. Urinating and defecating will cost CHF 200. Dog owners will face fines for failing to clean up dog poo (CHF 150), allowing […]
Switzerland’s organic honey myth – and how bees are paying the price
In Switzerland and around the world, honey bees are dying. Why do we care? Not just because we love honey. Countless fruits and other plants we depend upon can’t thrive without pollination by bees. Two culprits are largely responsible for honey bee die-offs, say researchers and beekeepers. One villain is the Varroa mite. This parasite […]
Uneasy breathing – 9 million die from pollution
Take a deep breath, but not too deep. A recent report published in The Lancet estimates 9 million people died prematurely from pollution in 2015, accounting for 16% of all deaths globally, 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. The rich-world is not spared. The biggest killer, air pollution, accounted […]
Majority of Swiss see a future beyond car ownership
A recent study finds that a majority of Swiss see a future beyond car ownership. This new post-car world, set out by a team of geographers, architects, urbanists, economists, engineers, and political and social scientists, asked the public to imagine living in a society that would choose to live car free, not out of environmental constraints […]
3 million francs of gold and silver found in Swiss sewers
Call it “dirty money” if you wish, because there’s about CHF 3 million in gold and silver found each year in Swiss sewage. But no one is going to get rich, according to a just-published report by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). Recovering the estimated CHF 1.5 million in gold, […]
How bees add 350 million francs to the Swiss economy
While they are buzzing around Switzerland gathering and spreading pollen, bees are also contributing CHF 350 million to the economy, according to a recent report by Swiss agriculture agency, Agroscope. Without these industrious bees, Switzerland’s (and the world’s) agriculture would wither. Though in Switzerland only 14 percent of cropland directly depends upon bee pollination, that […]
